Best DSLR For Professionals

If you're looking for the best
professional cameras, you better choose
a camera with many customizable
features, outstanding performance,
and extreme durability. Not to mention
being compatible with multiple lenses,
and accessories. If you're thinking of
becoming a professional photographer one
day, consider giving one of these cameras
a look. We highly recommend any one of them.

1) Canon EOS 5D Mark II (Body Only)

When the 5D Mark II was released, we were eager
to get our hands around it, and boy we were not
disappointed once we finally tried it. We ended up
getting the kit version with the 24-105mm lens, which
surprisingly is not that shabby.

It's a pretty beefy and heavy camera, weighing
over 2 lbs. But it's durable, and has a comfortable
grip.

The 5D Mark II also has movie-capture, which is
a nice bonus. It lacks a few built-in features such
as flash. Although we don't really need it most
of the time (we're experts after all =), it is nice
to have certainly.

In terms of performance, the 5d Mark II is pretty
fast, clocking in at .3 seconds from power on to shoot,
and .4 seconds shot to shot. For burst shooting,
it is pretty slow compared to other expensive models
at 3.8 frames per second.

We took many many photos with the 5D Mark II,
and every one of them was splendid. It delivers,
it really does. Very accurate photos with consistent
exposures. We saw no noise until we reached an ISO
level of 1600, but even it was only a tiny bit.
You can go as high as ISO 12,800 and the photos
can still remain relatively solid (of course, depending
on the situation).

Summary:
The EOS 5D Mark II delivers in
both image quality and performance, and will surely
make your shooting experience a fantastic one.
It is A+ in almost all categories, and just lacks
certain built-in features. After just a few days of
shooting with it, we knew it was a winner.

2) Nikon D700 (body only)

The Nikon D700 comes in a real close in this class
of professional photographers. There's a lot to like
about this camera.

We recommend buying just the body only, and
going with a better lens. It's not that the lens
with the kit is bad, but we think you can do better
especially after shelling out so much money for the body.

If you like lightweight cameras, the D700 is definitely
quite light. Compared to 3 lb models like the D3,
the D700 just weighs 2.4 lbs.

The controls for the D700 are quite user friendly, we
especially love the switches for selecting metering
mode. It's quite convenient. There's many things
you can customize here, you'll find yourself
spending days and days just figuring out everything
that can be customized.

The resolution for the D700 is not as high as other
cameras, but we can live with it. We don't shoot
many high resolution images, but if you do, then
we suggest looking elsewhere.

The performance for the D700 is pretty solid. From
power on to first shot, it takes just .2 seconds, maybe less.
Continuous shots take .5 seconds (even with the flash
turned on). These are as good as other cameras
in this class. The burst rate though is not as good,
clocking in at 4.9 frames per second, but it's good
enough for most situations.

The photo quality is superb, of course. If you use
a really good lens, the images will turn out to be sharp,
with great exposures. We can't find a camera
with more accurate colors, to be honest. Images look
great in low ISO, and are still fine even at high ISOs up
to 12,800.

What's not so great:
- Can be a bit too heavy for some people
- Low resolution compared to competitors

Summary:
The Nikon D700 is another great high end camera
for the professional. It has everything you want
in a camera of this caliber.

As long as you don't
need video capture, or plan to shoot sports, we
think you should be ecstastic with the quality
of the Nikon D700. The low resolution is fine
for us, but if you commonly shoot high resolution
images, the D700 may not be for you.

3) Nikon D300s (Body Only)

The Nikon D300s is another great camera
that packs tremendous performance, photo
quality, and a nice build.

We like how comfortable the grip is for this camera.
And it feels so durable and protected from dust
and weather.

In terms of speed, wow... you can't get better
performance than the D300s. It is perhaps
the fastest camera we've tested, both in
continuous shooting mode, and single shot mode.
It takes just .3 seconds form power on to shoot,
and .4 seconds for shot to shot (.5 seconds
when shooting raw). The continuous shooting
rate is a solid 6.8 frames per second.

The image quality is excellent, which is what
you would expect. The colors are always
accurate - they are bright and saturated, which
we prefer. In general, Nikon cameras usually
produce bright color compared to Canon
or other brands.

There are a few things that annoy us about
the D300s, and that has to do with the menu settings.
Some things took a bit more time to change
than they should have. You might need some time
to get used to it.

Summary:
Another great camera that beats other cameras
in its high burst speed, and good low light focus.
If performance and speed is important to you,
the Nikon D300s would probably the best
camera for your needs.

4) Canon EOS 7D (Body Only)

We thought we'd add a more inexpensive
camera to this category with the other 3. The
EOS 7D is not as expensive as the others listed,
but still packs a good punch.

The performance for the 7D is excellent,
and one of the best amongst all cameras
in the market. It's faster than the more
costly Canon EOS 5d Mark II, and even
matches that of even more expensive cameras.
Power on to shoot is a touch under .2 seconds,
which is amazing. Shot to Shot time is .3 seconds,
and burst is 7.3 frames per second.

The photo quality is also as good. We liked
how the EOS 7D handles noise - they really did a
good job in this aspect. At ISOs 800 and 1600,
our photos looked good. It's only until we reach
ISO 3200 that we see some noise. We recommend
shooting at 3200 or below.

The video quality is solid, though of course
not anywhere near that of a HD camcorder. It
passes though.

One of the things we liked a lot was the 7D's
big and bright viewfinder. As for complaints,
some of the buttons
in the EOS 7D are hard to feel - the illumination
buttons are quite small, and some of the buttons
just feel the same.

What's not so great:
- Buttons can be hard to feel at times
- 1 card slot

Summary:
The 7D is a good bang for your buck professional DSLR,
that packs a lot of features. If you need better
image quality in higher ISOs (3200 and beyond)
we recommend spending more for a better camera,
but if not, the 7D is reasonably priced,
has tremendous performance, and has a very
accurate autofocus.

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